Jonathan Parshall is the coauthor of Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway (Potomac Books, 2005) and the author of numerous Pacific war articles. He is an adjunct lecturer for the U.S. Naval War College and a frequent speaker at the National WWII Museum and other venues.

Articles by Jonathan Parshall

Portrait of Lieutenant Commander John Murphy, U.S. Navy

A Double Turn of Misfortune

By Jonathan Parshall, Seunghun Rhie, and Anthony Tully
June 2019
Did the subsequently rebuked skipper of the submarine USS Tambor miss a golden opportunity during the Battle of Midway—or does Monday-morning quarterbacking belie the complexities faced at the time?
Map showing midmorning attacks on Japanese carriers during the Battle of Midway

Sinking the Carriers

By Jonathan Parshall
June 2017
The Battle of Midway’s final score is familiar. Less well known is how SBD Dauntless dive bombers sank four Japanese aircraft carriers on 4 June 1942.
Navy Art Collection, Naval History and Heritage Command

Pearl Harbor's Overlooked Answer

By Jonathan Parshall and J. Michael Wenger
December 2011
The element of surprise on 7 December 1941 had a key ingredient: the astoundingly rapid evolution of Japanese carrier capability.
Mary Evans Picture Library/Robert Hunt Library

A Grim December

By Jonathan Parshall
December 2011
As the bombs echoed at Pearl, Japan unleashed a Pacific onslaught from the Philippines to Malaya.